Waldemar Becker

Early life and military career in Finland

Becker entered the world in Helsinki, the son of alikapteeni Gabriel Julian Wilhelm Becker and Kristina Fredrika Reuterskiöld. He finished the Finland Cadet School in 1858 and was made a Second Lieutenant in the Finnish Guard. After a brief stint in St. Petersburg, he joined Spanish troops fighting in Morocco during the Hispano-Moroccan War of 1859–1860.

Back in St. Petersburg, he was recruited into the Grodno Hussar regiment and studied at the General Staff Academy. In 1862, he ran off with a Russian officer's wife, traveling through Finland and Sweden to New York, which got him declared a military deserter. From the United States he made his way to Mexico.

Return to Europe

While in Mexico, Becker got married and converted to Catholicism. Once back in Europe, he settled in Paris, where conservative circles strengthened his Catholic leanings, prompting a move to Rome.

There he joined the Papal Swiss Guard but quit after six months to fight for the Greeks against the Turks. In the Greek army he acted as an advisor to the government. When his proposals were rejected, he returned to Paris and began backing the conservative faction in Spain and Don Carlos by writing newspaper articles.

Back to the military

In 1871, Becker fought against Turkey in the Egyptian Army, but his efforts didn't bring notable success. With a recommendation from Count Ignatiev, Russia's ambassador in Constantinople, he shifted to Serbia's army headquarters, where he worked on army reforms and pushed the Serbian government to declare war on Turkey.

He became Chief of Staff of the Serbian Army Headquarters but had to resign after clashing with the Serbian king. After that, even the Russian army refused to hire him. He went to Greece, where plans for a Balkan League and an attack on Turkey were underway, but those fell apart when Russia started peace talks.

Back to Paris

After the Balkan League and the planned attack on Turkey collapsed, Becker returned to Paris. His friends got him a job as a political journalist at L'Estafette, and he also wrote for other newspapers and magazines, plus books. His 1880 article 'La Finlande indépendante et neutre' caused a stir—it accurately predicted future Russian oppression in Finland and urged Finns to take up arms for full independence and neutrality guarantees from the Great powers. In the tough years that followed, he made a living as a journalist in France and Spain, focusing on Balkan affairs.

Did You Know?

• In Mexico, he was captured twice—once freed in a prisoner exchange, later sentenced to death but pardoned.
• After his death in Rome in 1907, his ashes were brought to Finland for burial in 1931.